New Spending :Blame it on Ridgewood Voters

Ridgewood NJ, many readers challenge the Ridgewood blog’s constant assertion that the Paul Aronsohn administration (ie… the three amigos) represented the low point in Village of Ridgewood history and the turning point from the Village being a very special place to a run of the mill New Jersey town.

Voters in New Jersey never like to admit their folly but the reality is this :

The election of Mayor Paul Aronsohn ushered in 4 high density housing developments in the Central Business District .

Let us spell out what did this mean for the Village , it means an enormous increase in the population of the CBD and the Village of Ridgewood . Which means; more investment in school construction , more construction of parking facilities , more construction of water infrastructure , more investment in roads and traffic signals , sewage and more investment in Police , Fire and Emergency services .

All this now very necessary spending will raise the costs (ie…taxes)and lower the quality of life in the Village .

“Let us spell out what did this mean for the Village , it means an enormous increase in the population of the CBD and the Village of Ridgewood . Which means; more investment in school construction , more construction of parking facilities , more construction of water infrastructure , more investment in roads and traffic signals , sewage and more investment in Police , Fire and Emergency services .”

* More people = more congestion and strain on services.
* More school construction = more bonding just to keep up with old buildings
* More (unnecessary) parking = more bond debt to bail out CBD owners at the expense of resident taxpayers
* More water infrastructure = in a town where we are on restrictions year-round, not to mention that Ridgewood never met a public utility it didn’t want to own (so we get sued)
* More roads & signals = they are already behind on road maintenance and the parking department has a love for quarters.
* More uniformed services = as a nod to the unions who we love to pay out 6-figure salaries to.

Yeah, the three amigos really did it to us, so the mayor could deliver $$ to his Dem cohorts as he padded his political resume for consideration by his politico masters.

Why do you refuse to rally the total spending on current Village Council passion projects like Schedler, the old Town Garage, and the Elks HQ? Only silence on those issues, but you still go on and on about the redevelopment of the dilapidated eyesores at Brogan Cadillac and Ken Smith Chevrolet. Most places redevelop over time. Plus we’ll need less police & fire with Valley leaving; they consume a large chunk of our public safety resources which can now be reallocated to the CBD.

Is there a tally of total cost to date and expected future costs to taxpayers for the Schedler Passion project? This is the kind of thing James & Boyd used to hold Council members accountable for. Why the constant deflection and silence?

And let me guess: you don’t like the redevelopment of the dead spaces in our CBD. Coincidence? What’s your plan to redevelop all of the empty space left by Valley? Marijuana farms? Call centers? Indoor trampoline gyms? Assisted living condos ?